High school athletes thrive from the roar of the crowd. But what happens when there isn’t one? As the boys game draws nearer the hundreds of empty seats that are always left open as the girls play start to fill one by one. By the time that the starters are being announced the student section is booming, and the difference in the crowd is extremely obvious.  

Kelly Walsh High School and Natrona County High School are cross town rivals. When playing with each other, the girls game was quiet. The student sections were both full, but no one was standing. By the 1st quarter of the boys game, both sections were huge. The students were holding signs, cheering, jumping up and down, and the volume of the gym made it hard to even hear your friends next to you. But who is to

Freshman Ella Soliz said, “That’s actually terrible! That’s our biggest rivalry. Why are we not standing up?  They are both varsity.” When asked what game they would rather go to, 9/10 students voted for the Boys game over the Girls. Most students think that the boys game is just more entertaining.

Head band director, Brent Rose said “Students tend to think that  boys games are more engaging and exciting than the girls games. The fact is they just go faster and they score more points. But the girls deserve just as much support as the boys do.” 

Varsity cheerleader Myla Mohr thinks the school is partly to blame. “The school could do more to encourage more participation at Girls games.”

Ella Soliz thinks that Kelly Walsh could use social media to encourage better attendance at the girls basketball games. That way students and players can repost it, and spread the motivation. 

The cheerleaders constantly try to get the crowd, or more specifically the students  to participate at the girls game. But many stated that it is very difficult.

Varsity cheerleader Taylor Sears said “At the girls games when we try to do cheers with the crowd, everyone just stares at us. At the boys games they actually do the school’s cheers.”

Women sports have been viewed as less lucrative for years. According to the article Gender in Televised Sports and Highlight Shows  “Men’s sports received 96.3% of the airtime, women’s sports 1.6%, and gender-neutral topics 2.1%. This is a precipitous decline in the coverage of women’s sports since 2004 when 6.3% of the airtime was devoted to women’s sports.” 

One group at Kelly Walsh has proved that going to both games really isn’t that hard.  The Pep Band at Kelly Walsh is a huge part of these games. They are always cheering, playing, and constantly engaged. During the Girls game, the band is already set up and playing during their warm ups. These students are one of the main contributors to the volume of the crowd during the boys games. But during the first game, they seem to be the only contender. Head Band Director  Brent Rose had made it clear time and time again that the girls deserve just as much as the boys. “It’s just the right thing to do.”

Many people tend to believe that the schedule is a big factor. On Friday nights the Girls game starts at 5:00, the second game starts at 6:30. But freshman basketball player Madyn Waring disagrees. “I think more people would still go to the boys game over the girls game. I think the majority of people would just leave after the first game…I don’t think the issue with the unevenly distributed crowds is the game times, but instead the pace and the fact that people think ‘the boys are just better than the girls.’ ” 

The future of the Women’s Basketball program at Kelly Walsh High School wants to see changes by the time they are seniors.  Freshman Point Guard Ella Soliz said, “When I’m a senior I want to see more of a crowd, more support. I want to see everyone encouraging us to win.”  These upcoming JV and Varsity girls want to look up and see a roaring student section in the crowd. 

Currently Lady Trojan Basketball has never won the state championship. These Girls need the support of thier own school and fellow peers if they ever want to put a date on the Lady Trojan Basketball banner.